The fact is, China is producing just about 1/3 of it's oil needs. Yes, there are land routes, but they have small capacity, not a lot- but let's be generous- let's say additional 10%. If China want's really improve it's oil security, they will need much more than one or two pipelines. Even then, these pipelines will be targets No1 in any future conflict.
About manufacturing, and what will Chinese workers that manufacture all those products do when China is under blocade and they can't export any more? Just look in the sky and smile, because they will not be fired or in unpaid leave?
Where you get the figure that china only produce 1/3 of their oil need. Last time I check China only import 50% of their energy need.
But that number is skew due to China taking advantage of low oil price and stockpiling their oil reserve. She has been buying enormous amount of energy in the last 2 or 3 years and filling up the reserve. China has one of the largest oil stockpile in the world
China can built oil line very fast and there is no supply shortage .In emergency Russia and central Asia has no problem filling up China need.You can built oil line very fast 2 years the most. There are more than 4 parallel line connecting Central Asia to China .Try to blockade that
You also forget China has oil terminal in Burma Kyauk pyu island connecting it with oil pipe line to Yunnan
With Oil And Gas Pipelines, China Takes A Shortcut Through Myanmar
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On the 29th of January, China opened, with little fanfare, a
new oil link through
Myanmar. Despite its low profile, this project has clearly been a huge undertaking, both technologically and politically. This 2,400km long
pipeline runs through some of the most rugged areas on the planet, marked by jagged hills and ridges and dense jungle. On top of that, two stretches of the pipeline traverse two of Southeast Asia’s political hotspots, the Rakhine and Shan States, which retain semi-autonomous armies that have only just recently been nominally pacified.
The new route however, has one invaluable advantage in eyes of Chinese leaders: it bypasses the Malacca straits, whose infamous waters are infested with pirates. A 300,000 ton super tanker recently discharged its oil at the new deepwater port located on
Maday Island—the first time this had happened—marking the start of new pipeline’s operation. That oil will now flow to Kunming, the capital of the southeast Chinese province of Yunnan, which borders Myanmar. The pipeline shortens the distance the oil will have to travel by sea to reach China by 700 miles. It also cuts by 30% the time this liquid black gold will take to get to the Middle Kingdom.
(Image: Shwe Gas Movement)
Avoiding the Malacca detour had the other, even more invaluable advantage in the eyes of the Chinese leadership. With 80% of all imported hydrocarbons to China going through the Malacca sea-route, China is vulnerable to having its overseas energy supplies blockaded by the American 6th Fleet during a Sino-U.S. geopolitical crisis. The Burmese pipeline diminishes that risk, as the oil and natural gas will no long have to pass through the Malacca Straits chokepoint.
Parallel to the oil pipeline of Maday, another link has been functioning since October last, from the sea port of
Kyaukpyu, which is dedicated to
methane. This pipeline has already transported to China four billion cubic meters of methane from both Burmese and Middle Eastern (Qatari) sources.
Central Asia’s Oil and Gas Now Flows to the East
Central Asia’s energy resources are increasingly flowing not to Russia, but to China and emerging Asian economies.
By Michael Hart
August 18, 2016
Over the past decade, Central Asia has emerged as
as the world’s demographic and economic center has shifted decisively eastward. Western reliance on Middle Eastern oil has long dominated the global energy industry, yet the rapid development of Central Asia’s energy infrastructure has made it a region that finally looks ready to fulfill its potential in delivering the burgeoning energy needs of Eurasia.
Central Asia has long possessed large volumes of oil and natural gas, predominantly located in the five former Soviet republics situated to the east of the Caspian Sea: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Historically, the persistence of Soviet influence over Central Asia’s energy sector led to the majority of Caspian oil and gas to flow north to Russia, and from there onward to the industrialized consumer countries of Western Europe. However, the picture has altered significantly since the turn of the century: access has been opened to new markets in the east, and Central Asia now plays a vital role in meeting the growing energy needs of China.
For decades, Central Asia’s energy infrastructure remained underdeveloped, with producers in the region struggling to transform their raw natural resources into output, while also having difficulty finding reliable methods of delivery. In general, the five states relied on more experienced international companies to provide export routes – often through aging pipelines to Russia – enabling secondary access to markets in the west. The Central Asian states sought to diversify their export destinations after the collapse of the Soviet Union, yet were often viewed as unreliable partners and risky investment opportunities by many Western corporations. Additionally, with the Caspian Sea being landlocked, the absence of a complex pipeline system to transport resources to Europe proved to be another sticking point. The result was a stagnation of the region’s energy industry as the West’s reliance on Middle Eastern oil continued, leaving vast resource-rich areas of Central Asia underexplored and large quantities of oil and gas untapped.
